Golf-driver



W. R. BRIGGS; GrLF DRIVER.

l No. 556,043. Patented Mar. 10, 1896.

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NiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VARREN R. BRIGGS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

GOLF-DRIVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,043, dated March 10, 1896. Application filed January 7, 1896. Serial No. 574,577. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN R. BRIGGs, a citizen of theUnited States,residin g at Bridgeport, in the county of Faireld and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements .in Golf-Drivers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of golf-drivers, and has for its object to provide a driver the head of which shall possess great strength and resistance to breakage, while at the same time any desired shape, balance, or weight of head may easily be obtained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective showing my improved golfdriver, the handle being broken away; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section thereof taken through the handle and head; Fig. 3, a horizontal section taken through the head at the line of Fig. 2. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are similar to Figs. l, 2, and 3, but showing modified forms of my improvement. A

Similar numbers of reference denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In constructing my improved driver I preferably bend a piece of Wood, by the usual process of steaming and clamping,so that the head and neck are integral with the grain, running in parallel lines lengthwise of the neck and then following the bend and running lengthwise of the head. In other words, I obtain the desired angular disposition of the head with respeetto the neck by the steam-bending process, so that the grain of the head runs in a direction parallel with the striking-face of the club, there being no grain whatever through the head which is not lengthwise thereof; but while a driver-head bent in this manner is beyond a doubt superior to a head in which all or a portion of the grain runs at an angle to the horizontal plane of the length of such head, still my present invention also contemplates sawing out the neck and head from a Single piece of wood in order to get the proper angular disposition of said head.

Referring to Figs. 1,-2, and 3 of the drawings,1 is the driver-head of any suitable shape, and 2 the neck integral with said head and extending therefrom at any suitable angle. This neck is cut down on a taper from top to bottom so as to leave two tapering forks 3 4, the inner surfaces whereof extend in a vertical plane at right angles to the bottom of the head and substantially parallel with the striking-face of the driver-head. The lower wall 5 of this tapered opening extends into the head l and is preferably parallel with the neck itself, as will be vevident from Fig. 2, and within this opening the handle 6 of the driver is inserted, having previously been properly shaped to conform to said opening. Glue is of course used in makin g the joint between the handle, neck, and head, and this joint or splice is preferably wound in the usual manner.

It will be observed that I obtain a splice which is exceedingly simple and strong and which does not in the slightest tend to weaken the handle, neck, or head, and also the handle is very firmly fixed, since it is confined laterally between the forks 3 4, and as to vertical movement it is confined by the inclined wall 5 of the V-opening.

7 is the ordinary strip of vulcanized fiber or leather which is fixed within the drivingfaca of the club, and 8 is the weight which is run into an opening in the rear face of the club. I prefer to drive screws 9 within the bottom wall of the opening in the rear of the club, so that when the lead composing the weight S is poured therein it will anchor itself firmly around the heads of the screws.

Should it be desired to put this weight in the center of the head, I simply saw the head from the wall 5 lengthwise, so that said head is thereby divided into two sections, each one of which latter terminates in one of the forks 3 4, as shown at Fig. 4. The opening for the lead is gouged out of the back section, and a little gate 10 is pierced in the bottom of this section and leads into this gouged-out opening. The two sections are secured together by a screw ll driven from the face of the front section through the gouged-out opening and into the rear section, and also by means of two screws 12 driven at an angle from the face of the front section into the rear section, as clearly shown at Fig. 6. The

head of the screw 1l is countersunk, while the heads of the screws 12 are cut off, the ends of the three screws being concealed by IOO the strip 7. The lead is poured into the opening through the gate l0 and anchors firmly around the screw ll, as shown at Figs. 5 and 6. It will of course be understood that all the sectional portions are firmly glued together, so as to make perfect joints.

When the head is composed of several sections each one of the latter are so formed that when properly assembled with respect to the handle the grains of the latter and of the sections in no instance run in a direction at an angle to the striking-face, but always run in directions parallel with such face.

Of course the construction shown at Figs. l, 5, and t' would not be employed except in instances where the weight was to be inside the club, but even in such a case the head may be sawed so as to be separated in various ways for the purpose of gouging out the recess for the weight, and I do not therefore wish to be limited to either a solid or a sectional head in my present improvement, since after the sectional head is firmly secured together it presents for the practical purposes of my invention a solid head.

I do not wish to be understood as claiming in this present application anythingr which I have shown or described in my pending application, Serial No. 573,298, filed December 2G, 1895, especially in View of the fact that my former invention contemplates an exceedingly strong sectional head, While my present improvclnent is preferably identified with a solid head.

I'Iaving thus described my iuventioinwhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A golf-driver comprising a head and a forked neck made from a single piece of straight-grained wood bent to bring said head and neck to the proper angle with respect to each other, the bases of said forks joining respectively the front and rear portions of said head while the inner faces of said forks are in Vertical planes which are at right angles to the bottom of said head and are substantially parallel with the face of the head, the grain of said neck and head running in a direction parallel with said face, the handle hai/ing its lower portion tapered and fitting snugly between said forks throughout their length, and suitable means for binding said handle and forks firmly together, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the head and neck made from a single piece of straight-grained wood bent to bring said head and neck at the proper angle with respect to each other, said neck being cut lengthwise to form a tapered opening whose lower wall extends into the head in a Vertical plane and is parallel with said neck whereby forks are formed whose inner faces arein Vertical planes at right angles to the bottom of the driver-head and substantially parallel with the driving-face of said head, the grain of said head and neck running in a direction parallel with said face, the handle having its lower extremity shaped to fit snugly against said wall within said opening throughout its length, and means for firmly uniting said forks and han die, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

lVARREN R. BRIGGS. lVitnesses F. W. SMITH, Jr., M. T. LoNcDEN. 

